1. Field
The present invention relates to endless rubber tracks used on multi-surface vehicles used in various industries. More specifically, the present invention relates to drive or guide lugs that are formed of vulcanized rubber and that are located on an inner circumference of the rubber tracks.
2. Description of the Related Art
Rubber tracks on earth movers or other similar equipment are exposed to harsh environments of sharp rock, sand, ice, snow, and mud for many hours at a time. After 250 to 500 hours of use, the factory-installed tracks start losing portions of their reinforced rubber composition vulcanized drive or guide lugs. These rubber lugs interlock with openings in the equipment drive sprockets to drive the endless rubber track and the applicable equipment. Once deterioration of a lug starts occurring, adjacent drive lugs must compensate for the deteriorated lug and share the drive torque pressure, which causes additional wear on the remaining lugs, until the most worn drive lugs completely break away from the rubber track substrate. Drive lug deterioration will continue until total drive system failure occurs, which means that one or more drive lugs will have to fracture to the point that they are non-functional. It requires four to seven drive lugs to make contact with a drive sprocket of the drive system for proper equipment operation. When total traction failure occurs due to missing drive lugs, the original equipment manufacturers recommend replacing the rubber track with a new track, which is expensive and results in lost operating time. With the present invention, field repair is possible, and the repair is permanent and allows for instant mobility and operation of the equipment.
The present invention allows for replacement of the drive lugs in the field without having to obtain a new track and without having to transport the equipment or the track to a repair center, although the present invention has proven successful for both field and repair center installation. In contrast, prior art original equipment rubber track manufacturers do not recommend replacing missing drive lugs caused by wear in the field. Instead, original equipment manufacturers only recommend replacing the complete rubber track.